Daniel G. Bates is an anthropologist and human ecologist. He is professor emeritus of anthropology at Department of Anthropology, Hunter College, CUNY. He is also the editor-in-chief of Human Ecology. [1]
Between 1968 and 1971, Bates conducted ecological fieldwork in Turkey and the Middle East. [2] He received his PhD from University of Michigan in 1971. [3] His doctoral dissertation The Yoruk of Southeastern Turkey: A Study of Social Organization and Land Use was based on fieldwork in Turkey with the Yörüks. [4] It was published in 1973 by University of Michigan Press as Nomads and Farmers: A Study of the Yörük of Southeastern Turkey. [5]
Bates' research focuses on the intersection of anthropology, ecology and human culture. Much of his early research focused on nomadic groups in Turkey and West Asia, [6] including adaptive culture, intergroup exchange, systems of pastoralism, [7] and marriage patterns among the Yörük. [8] [9] He has also done research on ethnic minorities in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. [10]
In 1976, Bates was invited by Susan H. Lees to co-edit the journal Human Ecology, after Andrew P. Vayda retired from the role. [11] That year, he also Bates co-authored Anthropology: Decisions, adaptation, and evolution with Fred Plog and Clifford J. Jolly. [12]
He co-edited Case Studies in Human Ecology with Lees in 1996, which was a collection of studies previously published in Human Ecology. [13] In 1998, he published Human Adaptive Strategies: Ecology, Culture and Politics. [14] Between 1998 and 2002, he also taught at Istanbul Bilgi University. [4]
Bates co-authored Human Adaptive Strategies An Ecological Introduction to Anthropology (2023) with Judith Tucker and Ludomir Lozny. [15]